Best of Neighborhood News 7/5: MPD officers encouraged use of ketamine to sedate suspects

A new report indicates that the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) has encouraged Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to use ketamine to sedate suspects, even in cases when the individual was already restrained and in cases when there was no evidence of any crime committed. The report states that the use of ketamine on those arrested has increased from three usages in 2012 to 67 in 2017. Ketamine is a powerful sedative drug that creates a trance-like state as well as inducing hallucinations and memory loss.

“I would say fairly comfortably based on conversations I’ve had with folks [that] it is Black folks who are ‘noncompliant,’ that are being affected the most,” said Ward 4 Councilmember Phillipe Cunningham. “That’s frustrating.”

Since May 14, police have arrested 52 protesters from MN Poor People’s Campaign

Launched in mid-May, the Minnesota Poor People’s Campaign has organized a series of rallies outside Minneapolis City Hall, protesting the abuses of the MPD against people of color and people in low-income neighborhoods. In response to the recent fatal shooting of Thurman Blevins by two officers, community members gathered in the office of Mayor Frey on Monday June 18 to demand that he put a moratorium on any increases to the police budget. At that demonstration, police arrested six protesters.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the president’s executive order suspending travel into the U.S. from seven predominantly Muslim countries, Muslim community members in the Twin Cities gathered to voice their dissent. The Twin Cities are home to the largest population of Somalis outside of Somalia, and the travel ban affects many of these Minnesotans’ ability to reunite with family members.

“This was supposed to be the land of the free,” said Amina Sharif, a senior at the University of St. Thomas. “But this kind of decision makes you believe that people who look like us don’t really belong here.”

“It was kind of a whimsical artistic impulse,” recalled Antonio Duke, as he reminisced on this past spring when Ashawnti Sakina Ford drove him home each night after their rehearsals for a production of “Imaginary Invalid,” a play by 17th-century French actor and playwright, Molière.

Councilmember Phillipe Cunningham hosts forum, speaks out on the 2040 Plan in Minneapolis
On July 22nd, public commenting ended for the City of Minneapolis’ comprehensive plan, a document that encompasses the city’s plan of action of housing, employment, investment and other aspects of city governance.

In case you missed it

All photos by Kayla Steinberg
Although it was mainly a plot to cool out radical activism, Labor Day is widely remembered as a celebration of the successful fight for the eight-hour day. Yet, while we’re approaching the United States’ 121st official Labor Day, it is now impossible for low-wage Minnesota workers to support their families while working only eight hours a day.

Have you noticed the bronze statue in Plaza Centenario, the pocket park at the corner of 12th Avenue and Lake Street? The statue of General Emiliano Zapata, a hero to many Mexicans and a leader who fought for rights for peasants in the Mexican Revolution, was a gift to Minneapolis from the Mexican state of Morelos and installed here in 2013.

All photos taken by Brea Lobley
Among the games, rides, various foodstuffs on a stick and the Black Lives Matter action at the Minnesota State Fair were two female artists—interdisciplinary mixed media artist and performer Ifrah Mansour and the late “Seed Queen” Lillian Colton—who offered poignantly moving and still images of what it means to be a Minnesotan. Colton, whose work has been at the State Fair since 1966, is undoubtedly a popular display and epitomizes the State Fair tradition.

On July 30, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced his decision to not file charges against MPD officers Ryan Kelly and Justin Schmidt. The two officers shot and killed Thurman Blevins during a police investigation on June 23 in the Camden neighborhood.

Since 1937, Columbus Day has been recognized as a national holiday. On August 12th, St. Paul becomes the sixth city in the United States to swap that holiday for Indigenous People’s Day. This marks the beginning of a hard fought effort to heal a deep wound at the heart of this nation. The resolution was sponsored by Ward One Council member Dai Thao and sailed through council chambers on a seven-zero vote. Members of the Native American community and the Saint Paul Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission drafted the original document.

In April, an intense fire devastated historic buildings on West Broadway. After a press conference raised the possibility of arson, investigators are no closer to knowing what happened, while the neighborhood is rebuilding. “You already had a press conference with the fire chief,” Marie Egbujor told me. “They probably don’t know who did it. It’s pretty dead right now, business is pretty down.”
But was it arson?